Cash remittances from Filipinos working overseas went up by 2.8 percent in November 2023 to $2.7 billion from $2.6 billion in the same month of 2022, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said Monday.
“The growth in cash remittances in November 2023 was primarily due to increased receipts from both land- and sea-based workers,” the BSP said in a statement.
Data showed that in the first 11 months of 2023, cash remittances amounted to $30.2 billion, higher by 2.8 percent than $29.4 billion a year earlier.
Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. chief economist Michael Ricafort said a single-digit, modest growth in remittances was expected in the coming months, as OFW families and dependents needed to cope up with relatively higher consumer prices.
Ricafort warned that the risk of economic slowdown or even recession in the US partly due to aggressive Fed rate hikes since March 2022 would be a drag on OFW remittances especially if there would be job losses. The US is the biggest source of remittances in the Philippines.
Data showed that including non-cash items, personal remittances also rose 2.9 percent in November to $3 billion from $2.9 billion in the same period in 2022.
“The growth in personal remittances during the month was driven by increased remittances from land-based workers with work contracts of one year or more and sea- and land-based workers with work contracts of less than one year,” the BSP said.
The 11-month personal remittances grew 2.9 percent to $33.6 billion from $32.6 billion in the same period in 2022.
The growth in cash remittances from the US, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates contributed mainly to the increase in remittances in the first eleven months of 2023, the BSP said.
The US continued to account for the largest share of overall remittances during the period, followed by Singapore and Saudi Arabia.
